This page is intended for undergraduates interested in volunteering at The Sharewood Project. If you are a physician, medical student, or other health professional student, and would like to volunteer, please please see our health professional volunteers page.

Information for Undergraduate Volunteers

What we do

Undergraduates are responsible for managing Sharewood's front desk and patient flow throughout the clinic. Specifically, undergraduates intake patients, create patient files, and triage patients. The triage process involves taking the patient's height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, and chief concern. Volunteering at Sharewood provides undergraduates with unprecedented access to patients in a clinical setting.

Who can volunteer

Any Tufts undergraduate is eligible to volunteer at The Sharewood Project. Due to the high demand for volunteer spots, only Tufts undergraduates may volunteer at Sharewood during the academic semesters. During the summer and during winter recess, students from other universities may be permitted to volunteer at Sharewood.

How to volunteer

There are four steps to become certified to volunteer as an undergraduate at The Sharewood Project.

1. Prospective volunteers must attend a mandatory 50-minute training session offered on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus by members of the Undergraduate Board.

2. Prospective volunteers must complete a vital sign practice log (done during training session) and then get approved as "qualified to volunteer" by the board member running the training session. The vital sign log (PDF) can be downloaded here and should be printed and brought to the training session.

3. Approved volunteers must then fill out the volunteer form emailed to the Sharewood elist prior to the beginning of each month indicating which dates they are available to volunteer.

4. The Volunteer Coordinator will then email out a schedule to all volunteers who filled out the form with their assigned volunteer slot(s).

Scheduling is done on a month-by-month basis. Volunteers are typically scheduled to attend the clinic once or twice per month on average. Questions about volunteering and the training session schedule should be sent to sharewood.volunteer@gmail.com.

Other ways to get involved

Beyond volunteering at the clinic, there are three undergraduate committees with which students can become involved.

Publicity Committee

The publicity committee is responsible for marketing The Sharewood Project. Members of the publicity work frequently with other community organizations throughout Somerville, Medford, Malden, and Everett. In the Spring semester, the publicity committee organizes Sharewood's annual Information and Networking Night held at the clinic. Anyone interested in the publicity committee should contact sharewood.pub@gmail.com.

Fundraising Committee

The fundraising committee is responsible for organizing fundraising initiatives and for promoting ongoing fundraising initiatives for The Sharewood Project. Ongoing fundraising initiatives include promoting an Amazon link that donates a portion of the purchases made through it to Sharewood. Other fundraising projects include working with local businesses to organize a charitable event. Anyone interested in the fundraising committee should contact sharewood.fundraising@gmail.com.

Public Health Committee

The public health committee is responsible for developing and executing public health initiatives at Sharewood. Currently, the public health committee is providing patients with resources on how to eat healthy food despite fiscal constraints, including bringing in nutritionists to provide dietary advice. Anyone interested in the public health committee should contact sharewoodpublichealth@gmail.com.

Undergraduate Board Members

General inquiries about undergraduate involvement in The Sharewood Project should be sent to the general board email (tuftspremed@gmail.com).

2010-2011 Undergraduate Board